Automatic alarm for postal chutes



(No Model.)

T. I. HAGERTY. AUTOMATIC ALARM FOR POSTAL GHUTBS.

No. 563,033. Patented June 30, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TIMOTHY F. HAGERTY, OF IVOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC ALARM FOR POSTAL CHUTES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 563,033, dated June 30, 1896. Application filed January 21, 1896. Serial No. 576,271. (No model.)

To all whont it may concern.-

Be itknown that LTIMorHY F. IIAGERTYpf lVoburn, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Automatic Alarms for Postal Chutes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawing representing like parts.

In post-offices and other mailing-points at the present time provision is made for depositing letters through suitable chutes or slots provided in the wall or partition, the letters when dropped into or through said chute being deposited upon or within a suitable receptacle at the opposite side of the partition.

In many instances, particularly in the ease of special-delivery and other important letters, prompt attention and mailing is desired, yet it is now frequently the case that a specialdelivery letter dropped into or through the mailing-chute remains for some time upon or within the receptacle at the end of the chute unnoticed by the attendant, and frequently the delay thus inadvertently caused brings serious consequences.

My invention has for its object to provide an alarm in connection with a mailing-chute or its receptacle, such that the deposit of a letter therein shall at once be made known to the attendant, even though the latter be at some remote point, calling his attention to the letter, that it may have prompt attention.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I employ an electric audible alarm, rendered operative by the contact of the letter with a moving table or member, which when moved by the letter closes or otherwise changes an electric circuit and automatically rings the alarm.

The drawing in vertical section shows a simple embodiment of my invention.

Referring to the drawing, A indicates a section of a usual partition containing the dropslot a, through which the letters are dropped when mailed, said slot in the present instance being provided with a downwardly inclined and extended table Z) in the end of a chute leading to the mail-receiving box 0, of suitable or desired construction.

In the embodiment of my invention herein shown I have mounted at the end of the chute or in position to be engaged by the letters deposited through the slot a, and preferably within the receiving-box c, a table (Z, in simplicity shown as of thin metal fulcrumed in suitable manner at d, and preferably nearer one than the opposite edge of the receptacle, and counterbalanced by a suitable counterpoise (1 which holds the said table normally in a delicately-poised condition, as shown in full lines.

When a letter is deposited through the slot into the box 0, upon the table d, the latter under the weight of the letter, or even a postal card, will drop into its dotted position in electrical contact or engagement with a suitable contact 6, and thereby close an electric circuit from the battery B through the conductorf, table (I, contact 6, bell f, and conductorf again to the battery, to thereby ring the bell, which in the present instance will continue to ring until the attendant, wherever he may be, removes the letter and permits the table to resume its normal or fullline position, interrupting or changing the circuit.

I am aware that mail-boxes have been provided heretofore with electrical contact devices to give an alarm to the inmates of the house that the mail-carrier has deposited some mail at that delivery, but myinvention is intended for use at the post-office, to notify the attendants of the deposit of specialdelivery matter, which should be attended to immediately. In usual offices there is a very large deposit of such mail-matter, and it is requisite, therefore, that the receiving mechanism for the special delivery mail, while being delicate enough to give an automatic alarm, even though the mail deposit should be exceedingly light in weight, should also be so constructed that it will not get out of order or used up by constant and long-continued use. \Vith these objects in view, therefore, I have provided the balance-table d in substantial alinement with the downwardly inclined and extended table 72, so that when the mail-matter is slid through the slot a down the inclined table b,it will drop quietly and gently upon the balance-table (Z without any violent impact thereon. Also the electrical contact 6, while given suflicient stiffness to properly support the mail-receiving table d, yet has sufficient resiliency to yield to especially heavy packages when deposited, so as to almost entirely relieve the table of the force of the impact of the mail-matter.

Of course my invention is susceptible of various modifications in the construction and arrangement of the device to be engaged and moved by the letter deposited for mailing, and in place of the bell f, I may use any other suitable electrically-actuated audible alarm, or any usual alarm or indicator which 'is not audible, and my invention is not necessarily restricted to an electrically-operated alarm.

Having described my invention, and without limiting myself as to details, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with a wall provided with a mailing-opening, of a downwardly inclined and extended table leading into a mail-receptacle, said receptacle, a poised table mounted TIMOTHY F. HAGERTY. lVitnesses:

FREDERICK L. EMERY, MARGARET A. DUNN. 

